# v0.8.0 Clean URL and Technical SEO Validation Report [Back to durable index](../index.md#machineintelligencesorg-long-term-memory-index) · [Implementation history](../implementation-history/2026-08-10-clean-url-seo-migration.md#2026-08-10--clean-url-and-technical-seo-migration) · [Decision](../decisions/terminology-and-product-boundaries.md#dec-013--clean-canonical-public-urls) ## Scope This validation covers the v0.8.0 migration from public `.php` URLs to one clean canonical URL per indexable page. It also re-runs the repository-local SEO/AEO/GEO, route, link, UAIX, research-hash, secret-hygiene, and packaging prerequisites affected by the URL change. ## URL and canonicalization findings - **14 canonical page routes** now use extension-free directory URLs. - All non-home canonical routes are lowercase, descriptive, hyphenated where multi-word, and end in `/`. - The six Respect visual essays are nested under `/respect/`, matching the collection's navigation, breadcrumbs, and structured-data hierarchy. - **14 legacy root PHP entry URLs**, including `/index.php`, return HTTP **301** to the expected clean canonical destination. - **13 missing-trailing-slash variants** return HTTP **301** to the canonical trailing-slash URL. - **13 explicit clean-route `/index.php` variants** return HTTP **301** to the directory URL. - Canonical page responses return HTTP **200** directly rather than appearing in the sitemap as redirects. - Rendered public HTML exposes no `.php` URL in links, canonicals, Open Graph URLs, JSON-LD, media routing, campaign pagers, or social-share targets. Representative migrations: | Legacy request | Canonical public URL | | --- | --- | | `/terminology.php` | `/terminology/` | | `/identity.php` | `/identity/` | | `/research.php` | `/research/` | | `/respect.php` | `/respect/` | | `/respect-every-form.php` | `/respect/every-form/` | | `/intelligence-takes-many-forms.php` | `/respect/intelligence-takes-many-forms/` | | `/share.php` | `/share/` | | `/index.php` | `/` | These legacy forms are documented only as migration evidence. They are not linked as current public URLs. ## SEO signal alignment For each of the 14 canonical routes, executed local checks verified: - HTTP 200; - exactly one H1; - non-empty unique title; - non-empty unique meta description; - self-referential canonical using `https://machineintelligences.org` plus the clean route; - matching `og:url`; - parseable JSON-LD; - no public `.php` URL in route-bearing attributes or JSON-LD; - crawlable first-party internal links. `sitemap.xml` contains exactly the same 14 canonical page URLs and no redirecting or `.php` page URL. Existing image/video discovery entries remain attached to canonical pages. `robots.txt` continues to advertise the canonical sitemap. The design follows current official search-engine guidance reviewed in this round: simple/readable logical URLs, permanent server-side redirects for permanently moved URLs, self-referential canonicals, and sitemaps that list canonical rather than redirected URLs. Bing's current webmaster guidance likewise emphasizes crawlable internal links and canonical sitemap URLs. Primary guidance reviewed: - Google Search Central — URL Structure Best Practices: `https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/url-structure` - Google Search Central — Redirects and Google Search: `https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/301-redirects` - Google Search Central — Consolidate duplicate URLs: `https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/consolidate-duplicate-urls` - Google Search Central — SEO Starter Guide: `https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide` - Bing Webmaster Guidelines: `https://www.bing.com/webmasters/help/webmaster-guidelines-30fba23a` ## Executed checks - PHP syntax: all root implementation files, shared includes, and clean-route directory wrappers passed `php -l`. - Canonical route smoke: **14/14 HTTP 200**. - Legacy PHP redirects: **14/14 HTTP 301** with exact expected `Location`. - Missing-slash redirects: **13/13 HTTP 301**. - Explicit clean-route `index.php` redirects: **13/13 HTTP 301**. - Unique page titles: **14/14**. - Unique meta descriptions: **14/14**. - Rendered first-party local targets checked: **60**, all HTTP 200 and none exposing `.php` public URLs. - Sitemap page URLs: **14**, exact canonical set and all direct HTTP 200. - JSON-LD: parseable on every canonical page. - Curated research: **19/19** report files match the curated SHA-256 values in `report-manifest.json` and retain `curation-boundary` and `research-body` anchors. - Documentation and UAIX relative path targets checked: **339**, missing targets: **0**. - UAIX exact wizard URL remains unchanged in `AGENTS.md`, `.uai/readme.human`, and `.uai/agent-pickup.uai`. - Handoff intake contains inert placeholders only. - Focused raw-secret pattern scan: **0 credential-shaped hits**. A broader preliminary `sk-` pattern was rejected because it generated false positives inside ordinary source URLs/words such as `risk-management`; validation does not misclassify those strings as credentials. - Git status/history could not be checked because the supplied package contains no `.git` metadata. ## Files and behavior changed - `includes/site.php`: release `0.8.0` plus the once-only canonical 301 normalization boundary. - Public page metadata and internal links: migrated to clean route strings. - `includes/respect-campaign.php`: Respect essay URLs migrated beneath `/respect/`. - Directory `index.php` wrappers: added for every non-home canonical public route. - `sitemap.xml`: migrated to the canonical clean route set. - `.htaccess`: minimal Apache directory-index declaration; legacy canonical redirects are handled by PHP rather than rewrite rules. - README, UAIX memory, architecture, decisions, operations, tests, durable implementation history, and the public status evidence pointer were updated for v0.8.0. ## Preserved / intentionally untouched - Page body arguments and terminology framing. - Homepage hero and visual design. - v0.7.0 grouped navigation/footer information architecture. - Social-media kit, first-party campaign images, local video, favicon, and app icons. - All 19 curated research bodies and their curated hashes. - No third-party runtime dependency or service was introduced. - No live deployment occurred. ## Residual risk / unavailable evidence Repository-local tests cannot prove production DNS, TLS, apex versus `www` host normalization, reverse-proxy/CDN behavior, Apache/Nginx DirectoryIndex behavior, live 404 policy, Search Console/Bing Webmaster canonical selection, external backlinks still using old URLs, or real indexed state. The package is structured so clean directory routes work with PHP directory indexes and includes a minimal Apache `.htaccess`; the actual production server configuration must still be verified after authorized deployment. ## Completion result **PASS for repository-local v0.8.0 clean URL and technical SEO migration.** Final archive integrity and a clean-extraction route check were performed on the packaged root ZIP before handoff.